


first snows and new beginnings

by johnrens



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, Some angst, Takes place in the US, asian student center, background henyang, background jaehyun, background jeno, background lucas/xuxi/yukhei, background lunoren, background vivi (from loona!), but not too angsty, dejun international student, dejun really likes music, first snow, jaemin baker, kinda friends to lovers, some worrying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21893017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/johnrens/pseuds/johnrens
Summary: Dejun never liked the snow, but that didn't stop him from accidentally falling in love with everything it brought OR how Jaemin charmed the absolute pants off of Dejun through his gingerbread me OR a collection of shared moments brought on by the first snow of the year.
Relationships: Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun/Na Jaemin
Kudos: 32
Collections: NCT Rarepair Winter Bingo





	first snows and new beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Hi hi! This is my second NCT related work! I banged this bad boy out in two days - so excuse any awkward grammar! I really had a hankering to write a rarepair and this fest gave me the opportunity to! Now feast your eyes on the VERY FIRST NAJUN FIC!!!! or Xiaomin or Jaejun or Xiaojun x Jaemin - whatever you fancy. I found this to be a little bit of a challenge seeing as Jaemin and Xiaojun have LITERALLY never interacted before (lmfao)! Either way! Enjoy! Please leave me comments below or on Twitter (which I'll attach in the end notes :p)! Also just some general notes - AASA (Asian American Student Association), CUSA (Chinese Undergraduate Student Association), and ASC (Asian Student Center).
> 
> For the bingo part of this rarepair fest - the tiles I have completed in this fic are as follows: cuddling, hot chocolate, ugly sweaters, and of course, first snow!
> 
> Also a p.s. - big shoutout to my dear friend, Mason, for beta-ing this fic! And another shoutout to Skyler for assigning me my ever so rarepair! And then a final shoutout to the rest of the Best Boy Group chat for just being my friends :3

Dejun never did like the snow. Much like how he despised the rain. He couldn’t stand the rain. Though the snow reminded him of the few months he spent in Sweden, where the sun only rose for a few hours and the rest of the day left him in a depressed funk. Not to mention the fact that it was definitely the worst. Wet, always sticking to your clothes, getting all up in your hair? A disaster, much like this first semester of university. Completely overwhelmed by organic chemistry and his guitar recital class, the Chinese international student wasn’t quite sure how well he was adjusting to being in the southern United States, especially during the winter. The summer had been just as grueling as some of his summers back in Guangdong, but he didn’t really know what to expect. Many of his new friends expressed their hatred toward the winter weather here, exclaiming that it was always changing up, and you could never be too sure about what to expect. 

And Dejun also just happened to hate the unexpected. He hated unexpected rain, he hated it when people walked to slow in front of him, and he especially hated the drummer who always practiced in the dorm room next to his. He had lucked out in getting a single room for his first year - a perk of being an international student - but he had also seemed to luck out in getting literally the worst wall neighbor. Alas, all Dejun could do was sulk and listen to the constant ratatatata of the drums at around 6 pm every night. He would go over and talk to his neighbor (nameless because he didn’t have a name sign on his door) but he didn’t want to make any enemies, since, after all, he was miles and miles from home with only a few friends. Yangyang, Renjun, and his best greatest ally, an older Chinese professor were the main people in Dejun’s life and he planned on trying to keep their lives as drama-free as possible. Besides, Saturday night dinners at Dr. Wong’s (or Vivi as she always told them to call her) house with her famous dumplings and his newfound friends were keeping Dejun pretty grounded and he didn’t want to do anything to shake things up. 

But as time ticked on and the days got shorter and the weather got colder, Dejun began to feel more and more withdrawn from the campus he had come to call his new home. He missed his parents and the sights and sounds of his hometown, he missed the smell of his mother’s food and playing songs with his father into the dead of night - he presumed this is what the Asian Student’s Center on campus referred to as “home-sickness.” The Asian Student’s Center is the place Dejun spent the most, besides the practice rooms in the music department. It had everything a college student could dream of - free coffee, free chips, and an unseemingly endless pile of scantrons for exam season. In addition to the comfortable couches and the pretty views of campus, the Asian Student Center was also home to Dejun’s CUSA (Chinese Undergraduate Student Association) meetings, full of free snacks from home and familiar faces like Yangyang and Renjun.

Though today when Dejun entered the Asian Student Center, it did not feel like the place he called home. In the corner of the common room stood a ginormous Christmas tree, with a few students surrounding the behemoth, decorating it with lights and Asian themed ornaments. The entire common room had been decked out in the Christmas spirit and to be honest, it wasn’t something Dejun was too familiar with. His family hadn’t really celebrated Christmas growing up - sure he would still get a few presents on December 25th, but they were in the form of compliments and maybe his favorite food cooked by his mother - but he had never really seen anything like the fully decked out nature of the common room. 

Quickly evading all the decorators and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” blaring from the speakers, Dejun made a beeline for his normally reserved study room with his friends. Sitting inside already was Renjun, his foot tapping away and his pencil scribbling at an impossibly fast speed. Renjun looked up and waved to Dejun, removing a headphone as he continued to diligently stare at his screen and notes. Dejun waved back, sat down and began to pull out his organic chemistry notes - possibly the worst thing he’s ever seen in his life. 

“How was your day?” Renjun prompted. 

“It was okay, just had class and now I’m here ready to review for my oh-so-wonderful orgo exam tomorrow.”

Renjun scowled, as his “humanities-loving-ass” (as he once described himself), wished Dejun good luck and remarked how he could never be caught dead doing science after high school. Dejun smiled, glad about the amazing amount of support he garnered from his art history-loving comrade. 

Renjun had been Dejun’s first friend since coming to SMU and though they shared the same ethnic background and sense of sarcasm, their lives couldn’t have differed more. Renjun was Chinese-American, third generation at that, so his Americanized parents supported Renjun to follow his passions - which lied in art. However, Dejun’s parents couldn’t have been more the opposite. His mother wanted him to major in pre-medicine and go to medical school in the US and return to China to support the family. Dejun had never been opposed to the idea - despite his blatant sulking and pessimism, he was never opposed to talking to people and was somewhat of an agreeable being, but not agreeable enough to allow a patient pre-diagnosis themselves from WebMD. 

Dejun was the type of person to stand up for his passions, for what he believed in… well except for the fact that he desperately wanted to pursue a career in music. He had always loved music, singing and playing the guitar and the piano ever since he was young. His parents had originally put him in piano lessons because they thought it would teach him patience and diligence and the importance of practice and blah blah blah. But to tell the truth, it became one of his greatest passions, he loved the way the guitar string felt on his fingertips, the way his throat vibrated hitting high notes, he truly did love music and it came to him very naturally. He won talent show after talent show throughout high school and moving to the US definitely wasn’t going to stop him from continuing his practice - even if his parents did want him to become a doctor - Dejun wanted more than anything to hold on to music. 

As Dejun and Renjun’s study session trudged on, the sun began to set and the interior of the Asian Student Center began to fill with noise, which prompted the two to remove their headphones and peek their heads out of the study room. Another one of the Asian student clubs seemed to have begun meeting in the lobby. All of a sudden, Renjun’s head, stacked below Dejun’s came up and uppercutted Dejun back into their study room, Renjun’s face a little red and a little flustered. 

“Ah damn Renjun, what was that for?”

“Sorry, sorry umm uhh, I just saw someone I knew.”

“Well, who could have caused all that… Renjun are you blushing?”

Renjun, blushing, nodded his head and exclaimed, “Nope, no this is my normal skin tone Dejun, nothing to see here, no blushing at all.”

Dejun made a move for the door, to peak out into the hallway again, but Renjun grabbed his sleeve and pleaded him not to.

“Renjun tell me what’s going on, who out there is bothering you so much? I can go talk to them for you -”

“No please Dejun anything but talking…” Dejun stared blankly at Renjun. “Okay, I’ll come clean… soooo I might’ve downloaded this dating app last week…”

Dejun already knew where this conversation was going, but he allowed Renjun to finish because it was about to be the gag of the century.

“And it’s kind of a hookup app…”

“Oh my god, the Renjun Huang downloaded Grindr. This is absolutely hilarious, wait until Yangyang hears about this.” 

“No! NO! Dejun you absolutely cannot tell Yangyang any of this. Anyways… I might’ve hooked up with not one… but two guys out there.”

“Okay? What’s the big deal Renjun? People hook up all the time! It’s normal!”

“Well…. They were kinda TOGETHER, Dejun - like they seem to be friends.”

“Okay? That’s fine, Renjun, no harm there!”

“Okay?” Renjun said mockingly. “Dejun!! They probably talked about it and ugh. It’s just not what I wanted to see today and it’s getting late and we haven’t eaten and I don’t want to leave this study room! Even if they haven’t talked about it, I don’t want them to put the pieces together!”

“Well did you see what club it was? Maybe we can text someone to distract them?”

“Ugh, it was AASA, everyone and their mother is out there… Maybe I could text Nana, he could distract them… But then he’ll want answers and I don’t want to give him answers.”

“Okay, well give me this “Nana’s” number, I’ll text him and see what we can do. Maybe you can make it about me? I could be the embarrassed one?”

Renjun hesitated but eventually turned “Nana’s” number over to Dejun.

  
  


Nana?

Hey, this is Dejun, Renjun’s friend.

I have sort of a weird request for you

  
  


Hi Dejun! (*＾▽＾)／

What can I help you with? ( ॣ•͈૦•͈ ॣ)

Uhh nice emoticons?

Anyways, Renjun had an awkward run-in with a couple of guys at the

AASA meeting and we just want to ensure they don’t see him 

he’s a tad bit embarrassed

Do you think you could create a distraction?

OWO sounds like a big task

Who do I need to distract?

Renjun said would only give me one letter

J

and then he said the tall guy that’s with him

Ohhh •̀.̫•́✧

I know exactly who that is!! ^v^

I can do that on one condition Mr. Dejun!

And that is?

You be my date for AASA’s winter formal :3

Um? No?

Sorry Nana, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in my life.

Really? o(；△；)o

Really, Nana, really

So are you going to help us or not?

Hmmm s(・｀ヘ´・;)ゞ

Sorry! I can’t hear you!

We’re texting.

Sorry, what was that?

I can’t seem to hear anything that’s so strange?

Fine.

I’ll go to the stupid winter formal with you.

Now save Renjun.

YAY! 

Okay I’m gonna call the meeting to start facing away from the study rooms

d=(´▽｀)=b

I’ll text you details about the formal later (´▽`ʃƪ)♡

  
  


The noise from outside the study room started to die down, as one voice corralled the others to quiet down. It was a nice voice, Dejun thought. Very melodic. Presumably this “Nana’s.” Together Dejun and Renjun snuck out the back and made a beeline for the front door. As Dejun closed the door behind him, he looked up and made eye contact with the taller boy standing on a chair in the middle of the common room. He had pink hair and the biggest smirk on his face - may be due to the fact he was watching Dejun and Renjun sneaking out. The boy with the pink hair winked to Dejun and Dejun shot him a scowl back - no matter how attractive this “Nana” was, Dejun was not about to let him win this fight easily. The door closed and the cold of the outdoors enveloped Dejun.

  
  
  


TWO WEEKS LATER (Spongebob Transition Voice)

  
  
  


Dejun had absolutely had it with this semester. Chemistry was ass and he was struggling in his guitar recital class. He had found the perfect piece to play and he could sync his voice just right with the guitar, but for some reason, none of it felt right. His teacher and his peers complimented him, but he just couldn’t put a finger on what was so off about the song. It’s as if it was missing the soul, the passion that Dejun normally put into music. Something, that in general, Dejun had been lacking a lot of lately. Something that definitely was a cause of his noisy ass neighbor, who had just started playing the drums. Dejun just wanted to sulk in silence - figure out what was going so wrong with his song, why no matter what he did, why he hated chemistry with a burning passion. And even more his neighbor.

Dejun sighed. He was fed up. He was about to “snap” as Yangyang’s boyfriend, Hendery, always said when Dejun got angry. He hopped out of his bed, grabbed his keys and with great fervor, charged on over to his neighbor’s door, and with a firm fist, banged on the other’s door. The sound of the drums ceased and a familiar voice called that they were coming. The door opened and much to Dejun’s chagrin stood “Nana,” Renjun’s friend, and frankly, now, Dejun’s greatest enemy.

“Dejun! A pleasure to see you!” 

God, he sounded like the fucking emoticons he sent, Dejun thought with a sigh.

“Hi, Nana. I’m here to respectfully ask you to stop drumming as it interrupted my sulking.”

“Sulking,” Nana pouted and gave Dejun puppy eyes. “That’s no good! What has you down, sweetheart?”

Dejun scowled. “First of all, I’m not your sweetheart, I’m your emotional neighbor. Second of all, my sorrows are none for your business.”

Nana paused, a genuine frown on his face - Dejun had never been super good at reading emotions - but it seemed as the other boy wore his heart on his sleeve.

“Well, I’m very sorry you’re feeling that way, Dejun. Do you maybe want to go for a walk? That always helps me clear my mind.” 

Dejun grimaced at the thought and almost spun on his heels to go hide in his room - if it hadn’t been for the arm Nana had placed on his shoulder. 

“Please, Dejun? You look like you could use it.”

“Fine,” Dejun said in a scoff, “But I have to go back to my homework soon - and maybe some more sulking.”

Nana smiled, eyes seemingly full of light. “Let me grab my coat! And by the way? You can call me, Jaemin - Nana is a bad nickname my friend came up with.”

“Ok Jaemin.

Their walk was uneventful for the most part. Most of it they walked in silence. As the sunset, the lamposts and blue lights came to life, allowing the two to keep seeing each other. The route they were taking Dejun knew well, Jaemin was essentially taking them on a loop of campus. As they passed by the chemistry department, Dejun sighed, reminded of the load of chemistry homework that awaited him upon the return to his dorm. On the front door hung a wreath - decorated for Christmas. It seemed wherever Dejun went the Christmas spirit followed. Realizing that his sigh was the first sign of nonverbal communication that Dejun made on their walk, Jaemin raised an eyebrow to him.

“What’s wrong?” Jaemin asked, eyes twinkling from the lampost light in front of the chemistry department. Jaemin had stopped walking to ask, which caused Dejun to turn around and face the other boy under the fluorescent light. 

“It’s just that this is the chemistry department… and I have a lot of work to get done.”

Jaemin cocked his head ever so slightly locking eye contact with Dejun. Dejun shivered, Jaemin’s concerned gaze causing him to look down to his feet.

“Is there more to that Dejun?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s just that when you mentioned chemistry your lip quirked up ever so slightly… and I’m no expert on reading people, but it seems like something bothers you about chemistry.”

Dejun never would have expected, Jaemin, basically a stranger of all people, to notice his little lip quiver. It’s something that only Dejun’s mother ever noticed, she used to clock him all the time growing up. No matter what was bothering him, his mother would always know.  _ You’re a strong boy Dejun - but just like your father, no matter how hard you try, you’ll never be able to hide your feelings from me - so don’t sulk. Talk to me.  _ He recalled his mother always saying those words when he was upset - from the time he was in diapers to the time he was in a cap and gown - no matter how hard Dejun tried, apparently he wasn’t very good at hiding things from his mother and now Jaemin of all people - the stupid neighbor who played his drums too loud and to whom he owed a favor. Dejun didn’t have an issue talking about his feelings and he thought he was a pretty open person, but Jaemin understanding him so well, so soon… unsettled him a little bit.

Dejun shrugged it off. “It’s nothing, Jaemin, don’t worry about it.”

“Well if you ever need to talk about -”

“You’re not my mom, Jaemin so back off.”

Dejun promptly put his hands in his pocket and began to walk again back toward their dorm. Jaemin caught up, kept pace, but remained silent. Light snow fell upon campus, a snowflake touching down on Dejun’s nose. 

Anything, but snow, Dejun thought. This was just the cherry on top of his awful night. Outside in his least favorite weather condition, with quite possibly his least favorite person in the world right now - it simply couldn’t get better than this.

Jaemin broke their silence. “Wow, it’s snowing! Isn’t this exciting? Maybe we’ll get tomorrow off if it’s bad enough,” he exclaimed. 

Dejun very visibly rolled his eyes and Jaemin got silent once again. As they paced toward their dorm, the snow came down heavier and heavier coating them and the ground around them. Jaemin was obviously marveled by the snow. Eyes glistening but trying to hold back a smile - all at the expense of Dejun’s sulking. At least Jaemin respected him enough to try not to cheer him up again, he thought.

“You know Dejun, they say that the first snow has a lot of meaning to it.”

“Really?” Dejun snickered. “Go ahead and tell me, literature major.”

Jaemin unbothered by Dejun’s sarcasm, obliged. 

“They say the first snow may symbolize an end. Or as I like to see it as, a new beginning. For me, I think this may be the end of wearing the t-shirt and jacket combo. Maybe time to finally pull out the sweaters… what about you Dejun?”

Dejun didn’t even have to think twice.

“I hate chemistry. Maybe I need to end chemistry.” 

Jaemin looked at Dejun with those same concerned eyes from earlier and even he was surprised that he even revealed anything in the first place. 

“And what about a new beginning?”

Dejun thought and thought, but he knew his answer. Music. He loved music more than anything else, but he didn’t want to hurt his family by pursuing his dream.

“I think I want to pursue music instead…”

“Well, why don’t you?”

“Ugh, Jaemin, it’s not that easy. My parents have sent me to the other side of the globe to get a good education in medicine and I can’t let them down like that. I carry my family’s name and I have to do them proud.”

Jaemin bit his lip and thought for a few seconds. Dejun wanted to throw up, the butterflies in his stomach freaking out. All the vulnerability had given him a headache. Especially telling all this to Jaemin, his neighbor who he barely knew. The neighbor he barely knew… but also made him feel oddly comfortable. 

Feeling sick and a little nauseous, Dejun began to trudge forward toward their dorm, Jaemin trailing behind him.

“I might be able to help-”

“Jaemin, sorry, I don’t need your help. I’ve said too much, I know, and I don’t want to be a burden.” Dejun said as they climbed the stairs toward their rooms.

Jaemin, who was managing to keep pace with Dejun, gave him that same concerned look, eyes full of worry for whatever reason. As they rounded the corner of the hall and arrived to their rooms, Jaemin spoke up.

“Hey, Dejun, I just wanted to say if you ever need anything, I’m right next door,” he said smiling.

Dejun, however, was not smiling and already beginning to sulk. “Lay off the sympathy, I don’t need any,” he said as he unlocked his door and let it slam, leaving Jaemin in the hallway.

  
  
  


THE NEXT AFTERNOON

  
  
  


Dejun was a baby. A big baby. And he genuinely felt bad for being mean to Jaemin like that. He also felt bad because he really let his feelings bleed out to basically a stranger. Though it did allow Dejun to do a lot of thinking. Last night after he left Jaemin in the hallway, he got nothing done. He sulked. He listened to My Chemical Romance. He absolutely did not study chemistry. But the worst thing of it all - he thought about Jaemin. How caring he was for Dejun despite barely knowing him, how he had immediately sensed something was wrong. And maybe Dejun even thought about the way Jaemin’s eyes glistened in the snow. Or that Jaemin’s dye job was actually really good compared to the loads of bleach Dejun had put in his hair to get it it’s current blonde color. 

Don’t get Dejun wrong - his feelings toward Jaemin may have changed a little, but - no matter how seemingly perfect Jaemin was - he still had one flaw - those fucking drums. Dejun liked music, but the way Jaemin played those drums may have been a punishable offense. 

Dejun was ripped from his thoughts by the sounds of screaming. Startled, he peered out his window, to see the ground covered with snow. A couple of people were outside on the lawn in front of his dorm in the midst of a snowball fight. 

He checked his phone to see a few text messages from the university - classes had been canceled for the day, which luckily for Dejun, meant that he had extra time to study since he hadn’t the night before. Yet all his plans were interrupted by a knock on his door. 

He opened his door to reveal Jaemin, who was dressed in quite possibly the ugliest sweater Dejun had seen in his life and a bright smile on his face. The sweater had what looked like a reindeer on it… and maybe a Christmas tree too? Dejun couldn’t really tell to be honest.

“Hey, Dejun! So I know you weren’t feeling too great last night… I heard the My Chemical Romance and figured that maybe I could help cheer you up today!”

Relentless. The only word Dejun had to describe Jaemin after he crushed the smile off his face yesterday. Shocked. The emotion Dejun was currently feeling, which was definitely written all over his face. 

“So, I have some Christmas movies and I have hot chocolate packets and I have some popcorn and I was wondering if you maybe wanted to hang out with me?”

Dejun weighed his options. He could spend his free day studying. Or spend the rest of his day with this man that he may or may not like. 

“And before you say no - I have a bunch of different movies - all the classics like Rudolph, oh and comedies like Elf and if you hate those we could always watch those bad ones from Netflix, I mean they look bad, but sometimes they’re pretty good -”

Sometimes bad decisions are the best decisions.

“Okay Jaemin, let’s do it.”

“Really? Really? Okay, we can go to my room! I have a TV and everything!”

The pair head on over to Jaemin’s room, where the interior is nothing like Dejun’s. The bed is pushed all the way up against the wall and directly across from it is a TV settled on top of the dresser - which lined up perfectly with the height of the bed. In the corner of the room was the drum set that had been bothering Dejun for the past few months. The walls were covered with Christmas themed ornaments. From wreaths to little bells with bows to the little plastic things shaped liked gingerbread men that stuck to his window’s, Jaemin’s room was decked out in holiday swag. Dejun had never seen someone this festive about Christmas - especially in the dorms. Though the lights were off, the room was lit by a very illegal candle that made the room smell of gingerbread- wait. Dejun with his eyes wide looked to Jaemin’s desk to see there was a plate of fresh gingerbread men, all decorated.

“Jaemin, did you make these yourself?”

“Yeah, I did! I kinda like to stress bake ahaha.”

“Stress bake? Oh Jaemin, I want to apologize for last night -”

“Dejun,” Jaemin cut him off, looking into his eyes, light smile on his face. “Don’t worry about last night. You were obviously very stressed and I understand that. Also, please have a cookie while it’s warm.” Jaemin said scrunching his eyes into a smile.

Dejun took a bite of a gingerbread man and it was ethereal. Life-changing. Show-stopping. To be quite frank, Dejun was blown away. 

“Wow, Jaemin these are so good!” 

Jaemin smiled. “So what movie do you want to watch?”

The pair spent the rest of the day lounging around on Jaemin’s bed (due to his lack of extra seating, they shared the bed) watching Christmas movies and eating gingerbread men and popcorn and drinking hot chocolate, which Jaemin immediately burnt his tongue on (which of course garnered some teasing from Dejun before he burnt his own tongue). After finally being able to down their hot chocolate without burning their mouths too much, Dejun began to feel a little sleepy. Though he and Jaemin were sat up next to each other all it took was Dejun sliding his head down a little to reach Jaemin’s shoulder. Jaemin was hot to the touch, the perfect temperature. Dejun drifted.

  
  
  


1:27 AM

  
  
  


Dejun woke with a startle. Where was he? How long had he been asleep? And  _ who’s arm _ was draped around his waist? So many questions? But sleep called his name yet again.

  
  
  


THE NEXT MORNING 

  
  


Dejun’s eyes, crusted, cracked open the slightest bit. Going through the motions from the previous night, he finally realized where he was - still in Jaemin’s room. This time there was no arm. Just light shining through the blinds and the sound of smooth jazz on a low volume setting. Dejun’s phone was nowhere to be found - much like Jaemin was. He peered around the room until he set his sights on the black case of his phone, covered by a sticky note. The note read “Will be back soon :) - Jaemin”

Dejun blushed. God. What had he done? All he remembers was spending the day with Jaemin then falling asleep after his hot chocolate. And an arm around him? It had to have been Jaemin’s. Dejun now had two choices. Fight or flight. Though, it seemed like this time the universe decided for him. The door to the room opened and revealed Jaemin carrying a drink tray with two drinks and croissants in the spots without drinks.

“Dejun! Good morning sleepyhead,” Jaemin said full of glee. “I brought you a coffee and a croissant!” 

Dejun was still processing everything - but he took the coffee aaand immediately spit it out. Jaemin, eyes wide, jumped to grab the coffee and handed him the other one.

“Oh my god, Dejun, I’m so sorry ahaha, that was my coffee, I like to drink it black with shots of espresso.”

“Okay, okay. Three things, Jaemin.” Jaemin raised an eyebrow in concern.

“One, what happened last night? Two,  _ why in the hell _ , do you drink your coffee like that. And three, what are we doing?”

“Well, one, Dejun you fell asleep while we were watching Elf, which is a damn shame because I recall you saying you hadn’t watched it, two, I’m really sorry about the coffee. No one should have to go through that. And three… we’re just friends, right? Unless you were thinking something else?” Jaemin cocked his eyebrow up.

“Just friends? Maybe? I’m not sure. I don’t know maybe I like you.”

“Dejun, what?” 

“Ahahaha, I really got you there right! Yeah, that was just a joke no need to worry about it!”

Dejun made a beeline for the door and Jaemin just stood there looking dumbfounded. This is not at all what Dejun had intended to do but. He had no choice. It was either fight or flight and fight it was. Well, now flight.

  
  
  


THREE WEEKS LATER AT THE AASA WINTER FORMAL 

  
  


Dejun really didn’t know how he ended up here. First, it was Renjun at his front door, telling him to get dressed nicely because they were going to a high profile event and they were invited. Of course, Dejun didn’t expect this high profile event to be a club formal in the student union of their university. And he especially didn’t expect to see Jaemin the moment he walked in. Across the room stood Jaemin - who he hadn’t gotten the chance to talk to in weeks. Not since Dejun flew out of Jaemin’s life. The other had tried to text him several times, but Dejun turned his read notifications off and tried to pretend nothing had happened. Dejun was one to embrace his emotions - but with chemistry eating his ass and his upcoming guitar recital, he wasn’t sure how much he was going to be able to take with this weird relationship between Jaemin in him added in. 

Luckily, Jaemin hadn’t seen Dejun and Renjun when they walked in because they immediately went over to talk to Yangyang and Hendery. The music turned on just as they had arrived so they danced with them for a few songs until Renjun was whisked away by some mysteriously tall man - the one Dejun thought might’ve been the guy that Renjun was hiding from a month ago. The beats of the songs switched up to something a lot slower. Yangyang and Hendery took each other’s hands and they even offered one out to Dejun - but not before he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.

He turned to see just who he expected - Jaemin, hair still pink, smile still strong. The sounds of the slow dance song flowed ever so slowly through the air and Jaemin and Dejun locked eyes. 

“Dejun, may I have this dance? I believe we have some catching up to do.”

Dejun grit his teeth. “Sure.”

Dejun was whisked away by Jaemin to another part of the dance floor, Jaemin placing one hand on Dejun’s waist and one on his shoulder, the couple danced slowly swaying.

“So, Dejun have you been well? You look really pretty, right now. And really tired. But mostly stunning.

Dejun laughed.    
  


“I’ve been doing not so good Jaemin, but I’ve done a lot of thinking and… I feel like you deserve to know something.”

Dejun raised his feet ever so slightly and reached up to meet Jaemin’s lips with his own. The kiss was short and sweet. Jaemin’s lips were definitely one of the top five softest things Dejun had ever felt. When Dejun came back down to meet Jaemin’s eyes, they were full of stars, just as Dejun had remembered them from that fated night they took their walk together. Jaemin smiled at Dejun and pulled him in for another kiss.

“Well, that sure was something,” Jaemin joked. He and Dejun shared a small laugh. “Dejun, does this mean you’ll be my date to the winter formal?”

“Of course, Jaemin.”

“And also, Dejun, can I ask how you came to telling me that something special?”

Dejun reflected shortly before answering.

“Well to tell the truth Jaemin, no one quite understands me as you do. You just knew when things were wrong with me and that really means a lot to me - not everyone catches on to my feelings so easily and you seemed to get it - and I’m very grateful for that. Also, I really like your hair. And your smile and the way your eyes shine like the stars.”

“Woah, Dejun. I’m glad I make you feel that way. I’m like. UwU-ing.”

Dejun laughed and pushed Jaemin a little.

“Jaemin we are in public! No uwu’s allowed!”

The couple laughed and as the slow song trudged on, the two began to dance, eyes locked taking in the ambiance. 

“Now, Jaemin. I do have something I do need to tell you - in all seriousness.”

“And what could that be Jun?” Jaemin inquired, giggling at the nickname.

“Someone really needs to teach you how to play the drums.”

Jaemin dropped his arms from Dejun’s body, hands coming to lay on his hips. Jaemin huffed in a little, pride seemingly a little hurt. Dejun laughed.

“Fine! But only for you will I learn how to play the drums right.”

“Oh and Jaemin? One last thing. How did you know me before I knew you?”

Jaemin, who was surprised that Dejun had even remembered something like that, widened his eyes and blushed a little - the first time Dejun had even seen him flustered in all their time together.

Jaemin chuckled a little.

“Well to tell the truth… I had seen you are the ASC with Renjun and I thought you were pretty cute. I also sometimes saw you in passing around our dorm, haha, I don’t think you ever saw me though, you always seemed pretty distracted.”

“Well, that sounds good enough for me! I’m happy you noticed me. I don’t know how I didn’t notice you though. With the pink hair and all.”

The couple danced into the night, not a care in mind. 

  
  
  


DEJUN’S GUITAR RECITAL

  
  
  


Everything felt great to Dejun. The past few weeks had been great - Jaemin and him started hanging out more consistently and grew to like him more and more every day - from his cunning smile to his constant concern for Dejun’s well being to the endless amount of baked good, Jaemin was the best thing that had ever happened to Dejun.

And Dejun’s guitar recital wouldn’t have been the same if it weren’t for Jaemin. The feeling that Dejun had been missing, the soul that he craved - had been restored almost overnight - it was as if Jaemin had breathed the life back into him after chemistry stole it, which was pretty odd, Dejun thought, chemistry was kind of the basis of all life and whenever Jaemin gave him a hickey it was like the life was being sucked out of him. 

However, ironically, Jaemin did give him lots of life - the right stuff to blow his guitar recital out of the water. After the performances had ended, Dejun met Renjun and his two new boyfriends, Lucas and Jeno, outside where they congratulated Dejun on a job well done. Shortly after, he was greeted by an attack for behind - in the form of a hug. He turned around to see his now-boyfriend, Jaemin and an unfamiliar face with him. Jaemin kissed Dejun and congratulated him exclaiming how good he had done.

“Dejun! That was so amazing! I knew you were talented, but wow I didn’t know my boyfriend was going to be a star!”

“I agree with Jaemin, Dejun,” the unfamiliar man said. He held his hand out in greeting, which Dejun promptly shook.

“I’m Jaehyun, Jaemin’s older brother. You have a pretty unique voice there Dejun. I work at Capitol Records in Hollywood and I’m willing to bet a few people would like to hear you sing… so how about you come visit us in Los Angeles? For winter break?”

Dejun was stunned. First, he looked to Jaehyun and blinked, then he looked to Jaemin and punched his arm.

“Jaemin! Did you set this up?!” Dejun cried, tears in his eyes. He sprang on Jaemin and hugged him tight, Jaemin holding him back just as strong.

“Jaehyun, of course, I would love to spend the holidays with you two. And I would love to sing more, it’s truly what I love.”

“That sounds great, Dejun. I’ll have Jaemin keep me updated on travel and all that later when you’re about to finish the semester. And I’ll leave the two of you to talk.” Jaehyun smiled and walked away. 

“Jaemin. You don’t know how much this means to me - if Jaehyun can help me out then maybe I won’t have to do all this chemistry stuff - maybe I’ll have a shot at music in the future!”

“Dejun, I’m so glad you’re happy and oh-”

Snow began to fall on the couple, the last snow having melted away already and a new batch coming down ready to cover the earth yet again.

“You know, Dejun. I know you don’t like the snow - but there’s this old story my mom used to tell me when I was younger. I don’t remember much about the details of it all, but I do remember one thing - she always used to say that if you were with someone during the first snow of the year your relationship will be destined to thrive. And when we walked that one night and the first snow of the season fell - I couldn’t help but think that maybe we were destined to be together.”

Dejun leaned up to kiss Jaemin, short and sweet. It felt right, it felt good, organic (not like the chemistry), natural. 

“Thanks to you Jaemin, maybe I do like the snow now.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> My Twitter handle: @kunqianluvr69
> 
> Feel free to talk to me about the fic!


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